The Consortium and its academic partners are led by Eastern Kentucky Universitya's Justice & Safety Center (JSC).
"The Consortium will develop and deliver training tailored for emergency responders in rural communities who face unique challenges in meeting their homeland security responsibilities," said Linda Mayberry, Executive Director of the RDPC.
All training delivered by the RDPC is certified by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and is offered tuition-free for a broad scope of stakeholders, including the traditional emergency response disciplines, other emergency support functions as defined by the National Response Plan, as well as critical infrastructure owners and operators.
In announcing the formation of the Rural Domestic Preparedness Consortium, Dr. Allen Ault, Dean of the College of Justice & Safety said the RDPC is another of the widely recognized programs in EKU"s College of Justice & Safety.
"Our college has a long history of commitment to the rural emergency responder community," said Dr. Ault. "The Justice & Safety Center staff of professionals is nationally and internationally known for their teaching, research and innovative programs and will provide an important resource for the rural responder."
"By creating the Consortium, national policymakers are recognizing the need to train our small and rural communities who have unique issues and limited access to training" said Dr. Pam Collins, Director of JSC. "EKU has long served the needs of the public safety and security community and we are proud to be a part of this new training initiative."
The Consortium comprises academic partners that possess extensive and unique capabilities relating to rural emergency preparedness training as well as other strategic partners with technical expertise that will assist the RDPC in supporting a national training program.
To ensure training is timely and relevant, the RDPC will conduct training needs assessments in the form of national surveys, user focus groups, and other outreach activities; match needs to existing programs or curricula; identify gaps; develop and deliver training; disseminate preparedness-related information specifically tailored for rural communities; and facilitate communications between DHS and the rural emergency response community on relevant preparedness training issues.
Since March 2006, as the Consortium was being formed, RDPC facilitated the training of more than 600 rural emergency responders by delivering or hosting all-hazards preparedness training courses. In the coming years, as the Consortium becomes fully operational, it is anticipated to train thousands more rural emergency responders across the Nation.
The RDPC will utilize advances in instructional technology and training delivery methods, such as distance learning, to deliver content addressing a broad spectrum of emergency preparedness topics.
